AI Coding Ecosystem Comparison

comparison.md

AI Coding Ecosystem Comparison

Generic Feature Category	Anthropic	Google	OpenAI	Cognition	Cursor
Product Ecosystem	Claude Code	Gemini	Codex	Windsurf	Cursor
Agent Framework (Builder SDK)	Claude Code SDK Embed "headless" coding agents into internal tools using Python/TS.	Agent Dev Kit (ADK) Framework for building multi-agent systems with standardized handoffs.	Agents SDK Lightweight Python framework for building orchestrated agent swarms.	Devin API REST API to programmatically control remote Devin sessions.	N/A Extensible via VS Code API, but no SDK to build custom agents.
Terminal Interface (CLI Agent)	claude (via npm) Runs locally. Orchestrates tools & sub-processes directly in your shell.	gemini (via npm) Runs locally. Uses "Deep Think" models to reason and execute commands.	codex / gh (via npm) Runs locally. Acts as a "Junior Dev" for shell commands.	N/A No standalone CLI agent; users must use the IDE.	N/A No standalone CLI agent; users must use the IDE.
Integrated Interface (IDE Agent)	N/A Works alongside your existing editor (VS Code, Vim, JetBrains).	Antigravity Browser-based "Manager Station" for overseeing multiple agents.	N/A Relies on standard Copilot extensions in VS Code.	Windsurf Deeply integrated "Cascade" agent that shares context between code & terminal.	Cursor Forked VS Code with "Composer" agent for multi-file editing.
Asynchronous Worker (Cloud/Background)	Claude Code Web Offload local sessions to ephemeral cloud VMs to free up your terminal.	Jules Persistent "Teammate" agent. Delegate tasks ("Fix bug"), it opens a PR.	Codex Cloud Secure sandbox for running code generation tasks in the background.	Devin Fully autonomous remote engineer that completes end-to-end tickets.	Parallel Agents Local background workers that use Git Worktrees to isolate changes.
Delegation Model (Concurrency)	Context Isolation Spins up "Subagents" with fresh context windows to prevent clutter.	Orchestration Main agent delegates to specialized sub-agents via ADK handoffs.	Containerization Spins up isolated containers for specific tasks.	Remote Handoff Local IDE agent hands off complex tasks to remote cloud worker.	Shadow Workspaces Uses git worktrees to run agents in parallel without file conflicts.
Tooling Protocol (Skills/Extensions)	MCP + Scripts Uses Model Context Protocol + local executable scripts.	MCP Extensions Bundled tools that adhere to the MCP standard.	MCP Extensions Copilot Extensions that use MCP to connect tools.	Native MCP IDE natively supports adding MCP servers as tools.	Native MCP IDE natively supports adding MCP servers as tools.
Automation Macros (Custom Commands)	Slash Commands Markdown files in .claude/commands.	Command Templates TOML files in ~/.gemini/commands/.	Slash Commands Markdown files in .codex/commands.	Workflows Markdown flow definitions in .windsurf/workflows.	Slash Commands Markdown files in .cursor/rules.
Context Configuration (System Rules)	CLAUDE.md Project-specific memory & rules.	GEMINI.md Project-specific memory & rules.	AGENTS.md Open standard for agent context.	.windsurfrules Shared rules for IDE & Cloud agent.	.cursor/rules Project-specific behavior rules.